ARTICLE

HERITAGE UNDER THREAT

SAVING THE ANCIENT GARDENS OF ISTANBUL, TURKEYChantel White, Aleksandar Shopov, and Aksel CassonChantel White (cwhite16@nd.edu) is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Aleksandar Shopov(asopov@fas.harvard.edu) is a graduate student at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. AkselCasson (aksel.casson@sru.edu) is an Anthropology instructor at the Middle East Studies Center, Slippery Rock University.

n the fifth century AD, Byzantine emperor Theodosius II

authorized the construction of a massive fortification wallalong the western edge of Constantinople. Originallydesigned to protect the city from western attackers, includingAttila the Hun, these walls once formed a formidable barrier tothe city. Agricultural activities around the walls are attested in theemperors edict, which allowed farm tools to be stored within thelower floors of the inner wall. In the seventeenth century, animpressive series of vegetable gardens and fruit orchards sprangup alongside the walls.These agriculturally productive spaces, today known in Turkishas bostans, have provided much-needed produce for the citys residents during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Amazingly,some of gardens are still cultivated today, over 1,500 years afterthe earliest records of agriculture in this part of the city (Sopovand Han 2013). Despite their protected status as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, however, the areas along both sides of theTheodosian wallsas well as the walls, towers, and gatesareunder serious threat from urban development. In the past twoyears, the historic vegetable gardens have been bulldozed, andthe ancient walls have been damaged by illegal construction projects undertaken by developers and local municipalities.

Figure 1. The historic vegetable garden of Ismailpasa, located along the Theodosian wall and Yedikule fortress, as the garden appeared in 2009.

Soil with a History

In the neighborhood of Yedikule, at the southernmost edge ofthe Theodosian walls, gardeners still plant and harvest crops oflettuce, cabbage, beets, carrots, onions, and turnips throughoutthe year. These same garden crops are recorded in early farmingmanuals for the city, including the Byzantine-era Geoponica written over 1,000 years ago (Dalby 2011). Archaeological evidence ofthe citys gardening past is also visible in the 300-year-oldOttoman wells (Turkish: kuyu), which still irrigate the gardens ofYedikule, and in the garden soil, which is full of Byzantine andOttoman artifacts. In 1939, the Theodosian walls were first des-

Figure 2. In July 2013, developers destroyed the garden of Ismailpasa in

Yedikule without warning. Gardeners scrambled to harvest their crops in frontof approaching bulldozers.

January 2015 The SAA Archaeological Record

ARTICLE

ignated as a conservation area, and in 1985 the entire 6,650-m

wall complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site(WHS) List as a Historic Area of Istanbul (Ahunbay and Ahunbay 2000; orakbas et al. 2014).

New Laws, Big Problems

Figure 3. The garden of Ismailpasa as it appeared in November 2014, with new

villas constructed at left. Illegal construction has begun again in the destroyedgarden and along the Theodosian wall perimeter.

Figure 4. Without permits or authorization from the Istanbul Archaeological

Museum, backhoes and bulldozers have begun construction within this protected Historic Area of Istanbul.

Archaeologists, historians, and environmental activists are working to protect the Theodosian walls and their associated gardensfrom urban development. But those against the destruction ofIstanbuls heritage face a serious uphill battle. In the past 10years, new laws have enabled the Turkish government and localmunicipalities to rezone protected archaeological sites andexpropriate private property. Several neighborhoods along thecity walls have been rezoned as renewal areas, leading to illicitconstruction work within protected areas. Established conservation plans for these archaeological areas have been altogetherignored, and development has occurred without proper permitting and supervision of the Istanbul Archeological Museum.In July of 2013, Istanbuls Metropolitan and Fatih municipalitiesbegan construction work along the Theodosian walls in Yedikule.Without disclosing their plans to the public, the municipalityrezoned the bostans located within the WHS-protected area fordestruction. Several gardens were bulldozed without warning,including a large vegetable garden known as Ismailpasa, a historically documented garden recorded on eighteenth-centuryOttoman maps and records. According to a report put forward bythe Association of Istanbul Archaeologists, heavy machinery alsodestabilized portions of the ancient Theodosian wall by removing at least 1 m of soil from its foundation, and backhoes inflicted damage to the easternmost wall by scraping its stone surface(Hurriyet Daily News 2013). A portion of the historic gardenswas then buried beneath several hundred tons of dirt and rubble.

The SAA Archaeological Record January 2015

Archaeologists and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum were

able to temporarily halt construction in the gardens after thedevelopers were found in violation of Turkeys Protection ActLaw No. 2863. Ironically, however, the local governmentdestroyed these protected areas as part of a long-term plan tobuild an artificial garden between the Theodosian walls andnewly constructed residential villas. Their construction planincludes a number of restaurants, coffee shops, and parking lots,many of which will be built adjacent to the Theodosian walls.Recent news reports indicate that the garden-park area envisioned by the Istanbul Metropolitan and Fatih municipalities willextend northward 7 km along the entirety of the Theodosian landwalls, destroying historic gardens and evicting local residentsalong the walls (BirGn 2014).

ARTICLE

In November of 2014, Istanbuls Metropolitan municipality once

again began construction in Yedikule without the supervision ofthe Archaeological Museum. Trenches for large drainage pipesextending at least 2 m deep into the soil have disturbed archaeological sediments where the Ismailpasa vegetable garden oncestood, churning up ceramic sherds and other archaeologicalmaterial, including faunal remains. Construction of an artificialriver has begun within meters of the wall, potentially undermining its structural integrity. Furthermore, archaeologists haverecently witnessed backhoes depositing construction debris andconcrete blocks in direct contact with the easternmost Theodosian wall.

Efforts toward Preservation

The Association of Istanbul Archaeologists continues to advocatefor UNESCO protection of the Theodosian walls and gardens.While its listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site does not offerofficial legal protection, it does provide an international profileand visibility for the sites continued conservation. Yigit Ozar, arepresentative of the Association of Istanbul Archaeologists, hasstressed the importance of collective local and internationalaction. Turkish archaeologists have focused their efforts onworking with local communities to raise public awareness of theimminent threat to the archaeological sites and the destructionof traditional lifeways in Istanbul (Ricci 2008). Unfortunately,these efforts have been met with insults, intimidation, and physical attacks on archaeologists (Ozar, personal communication2014).

We hope to inform the American archaeological community of

an increasing threat to cultural heritage in Turkey and to advocate for an international campaign focused on the continued protection of the Historic Areas of Istanbul. In addition, in light ofthe current construction projects occurring in Yedikule andother neighborhoods without proper permits or supervisionfrom the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, we recommend thatthe Theodosian walls and historic vegetable gardens be placed onthe UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

IN BRIEF, from page 4 <

Q: I do not live in the Eastern Time zone. Can you offer online seminars that accommodate members in my time zone?A: The online seminars currently require staff support from ourWashington, D.C., office. Therefore we schedule them between9:00 am-5:00 pm Eastern Time. We make every effort not toschedule classes before 9:00 am Pacific Time.Q: I tried to register right after I got the email announcement but theregistration link was not working and/or I could not find the registration link on the web page. Where is the link? Is the system down?A: If you do not see a link that means the class is full. This canhappen when the class has filled up quickly, and we are still in theprocess of shutting down the registration page.Q: If its an online seminar how can it be sold out?A: While the software has seat limits, SAA wants our onlineseminars to be as interactive as possible, so we limit class size toallow for Q & A between instructor and participants.

10

The SAA Archaeological Record January 2015

Q: I see that groups can register an unlimited number of participants

so why arent there more group seats available?A: Each registrationwhether individual or groupis for onlyone internet connection. It is the number of internet connectionsthat is limited by our license. This preserves the quality of thepresentation. It is also why group users must all be present at thesame physical location to view the presentation.Q: I could not get a seat in the seminarcan I watch it online? ORQ: I registered/paid for an online seminar but I wont be able to attendbecause of a scheduling conflict. Will it be available for viewing afterthe class?A: SAA will be recording and archiving the one hour free onlineseminars on SAAWeb in the near future. The recordings will beavailable only to our members as a benefit of membership in theSociety.